The Price For Peace
by Cheese-Blocker
Summary: Amon, born on a small farm to the name of Solu, had his family and home burned down in front of him. By a firebender. Now, homeless, friendless, even faceless, Solu has only one thing: A drive. To rid the world of bending. Forever.
1. The Fire

I throw open the door and stomp across the entrance room, I go into the dining room and slam my books down on the table. My older brother and sister trudge in after me. My mother hears us and comes into the room we are all in.

"What's wrong?" She asks when she sees the looks on our faces.

"What's ever wrong?" My sister Nos retorts angrily. "Life is SO messed up."

"Was it Marcus?"

"Yes."

"I'll ask your father to have a talk with his father about it."

"Good luck with that!" Tolenn, the second oldest in the family and my would-be worst enemy if not for Marcus and his dad, scowls.

"The only thing Dad has guts enough to talk about to Mr. Eme about is how much of our food he wants this week!" I kick the table leg in frustration. "OW!"

Ti and Rala, the little twins, charge in. "You're BAAAAACK!"

I dodge them, pick up my books and head up to my room. Well, Tolenn's and my room. I start my homework and about an hour later I hear Dad come in.

"Krin." Mom's voice drifts up to me. "Marcus Eme was bothering our kids at school today again."

"More than bothering!" I snort to myself.

"You really need to talk to Eme about it."

"I can't Parri, you know what would happen."

"No, I don't. You _have_ to face him! We cannot live the rest of our lives like this!"

"I did once, I tried to stand up to him, to tell him he didn't own me and I didn't have to bow to his ever wish."

"When?! I wasn't ever aware of that!"

"I didn't tell you because I didn't want to worry you."

"Worry me?! I'm delighted to hear it!"

"I haven't finished yet. When I did he threatened me, he threatened my life and all of yours."

I gasp, how could he do that?!

"I don't believe it! No one would do something like that!"

"You better believe it, because it's the truth!"

"Ugh! Why are we in this mess?! Why have you let it go this far?!"

"Do you think I had a choice?!"

"If you had started out denying him LIKE I HAD SAID our lives wouldn't be in danger right now!"

They are yelling now, I don't want to hear any more so I hurry down the stairs and out the back door. I stand for a moment on the porch that overlooks our small farm, and then I see my siblings at the edge of the woods that border it. I slowly make my way over to them. When I reach them I slump down with my back against a tree.

"Alu, tum play wiv us!" Rala grabs my hand and tries to pull me over to the others.

"Not right now." I grumble.

Nos looks over at me. "What's wrong Solu? Are you still upset about what happened at school?"

"I just over heard Mom and Dad arguing-"

"Not again."

"Yea. Mom said he should confront Mr. Eme then Dad said…" I try not to shiver. "…he said he did once an-"

"HA! I don't believe it! Not in a million-"

"STOP Tolenn! I was still talking!" I glare at him; he sticks his tongue out at me. Nos pretends not to notice. "He said when he did Mr. Eme threatened to…to kill all of us."

Ti and Rala look at me, their bottom lips quiver, they begin to cry.

Nos slaps my arm. "Use common sense Solu! Don't say stuff like that in front of three year olds!" She picks them up and goes back to the house. Tolenn gives me a look and follows.

I sigh, how did I end up here? Smack-dab in the middle of this messed up, struggling, nonbending family.

The next day at school when Marcus is once again terrorizing us with his firebending we decided we'd had enough. So my older siblings and I ganged up on him and made him sorry he'd ever laid eyes on us. However, if I had known what severe consequences would have come from it, I would never have considered doing it. Ever.

That night at dinner:

Mom hands me the scrambled eggs and I set them beside the rice. Nos is getting out utensils. I look over at the table, it's not an extravagant setting, since we're not rich, but it's acceptable. Dad thanks the spirits who have to do with us for the food and other things. I have a great respect for the spirits, part of it has to do with the fact that they can't bend in the spirit world.

About half way through the meal, a loud crash comes from the entry room. We all jump up from the table and hurry out to see what it was. The door lies on the floor, de-hinged and in flames. I look up. Mr. Eme!

"What are you doing here?" Dad tries to stand tall.

"Your kids caused my son some trouble this afternoon. I've come to inquire as to why."

"You wanna know why?!" Tolenn leaps forward and sticks his finger in Mr. Eme's face. "Because he's exactly like you! He-"

"Out of my way, boy!" He flips Tolenn behind him and turns back to Dad.

"Now, are YOU going to tell me why my son was unjustly wronged at school today?"

"I…I-um I-I-I…"

"Oh, come on now. You don't want anything happening to your nice home now do you? I know you can't afford a new one." Fire flickers on his fingertips. "And this house belongs to me. You're just renting it."

Dad stands undecided, he looks at Mr. Eme, standing menacingly over him, he looks at Tolenn, picking himself up painfully off the floor, and at last he looks at the rest of his family shivering behind him, willing him not to let the firebender control his life. Finally he makes his choice. And he chooses that he has had "ENOUGH! I've had enough of you terrorizing my family! You have no right! So get out of my home, and out of my life! We're leaving in the morning!"

Mr. Eme looks taken aback. I can tell he was not expecting something like this from a nonbending push over like my father. He grimaces and walks out the door. Dad goes over and watches hi, leave. Then something happens that for some reason none of us were expecting. A huge fire blast roars into Dad and he is thrown against the opposite wall. He lies there, unconcise and smoldering. Nos hurries the twins away while Mom runs over to Dad.

"KRIN! KRIN!" She turns him over.

"Is he…al- okay?" I ask hesitantly.

"I-"She never finishes her sentence because apparently Mr. Eme wasn't done yet. She is thrown against the wall and peppered with fire blasts.

"Mom!" I am about to run over to her but I'm not sure what I could do. Mr. Eme is now working on Tolenn who is able to put up a bit of a stand. I dash out of the room.

"Nos! Nos! Get Ti and Rala out of here! Get them as far away as possible! I don't think he means to stop with those three!"

"Those three!? You mean…"

I nod.

"Dose free'? Wooz free'?"

"I'ze free'!" Rala answers Ti while holding up three fingers.

We are by now out the back door and hurrying across our fields. Suddenly the other end is in flames. Ti and the girls scream, I don't of course, I'm a twelve year old boy. I pick up Ti and change my direction, I guess Nos is doing the same with Rala, but when I look back, I don't see them through the tall wheat stalks. Ti is screaming, I am having trouble seeing through the smoke. I hope Nos and Rala are okay, but I fear the worst. What is that ruthless firebender thinking?! Why is he wiping out our family like this?! I don't understand! I guess it's just something all benders are born with, this cruel merciless part of them that hates all nonbenders.

I finally get out of the field and into the trees. I plan on heading for the stream but Mr. Eme is suddenly in front of me, I guess he is able to move unhindered through his own devastation. I turn to my left and start running as fast as I can but am slowed down by Ti and I am finding it hard to breath. The firebender grabs my arm.

"Don't go, I'm not finished yet." He raises his hand. "You won't ever harm my son again!" He throws it at me but at the last moment, I clamp my teeth down on his hand and wrench my arm free. I take a step back from him and trip on a fallen log losing my grip on Ti. I lie for a second too long. Ti is hit.

"NNOO! TI!" I try to get him, but am kicked over. I can hardly do anything. I am too exhausted and defeated.

"Finally it's time for you to join the rest of your family."

The REST of my family!? I hear sirens then cry out in pain as my face burns.


	2. Awake

"Good afternoon! You're awake finally. You've been unconcise since that house fire you tried to flee from two days ago."

House fire? Oh, the attack. I'm alive! I sit up wearily.

"Ti?" I ask afraid of the answer I might get.

"Right over here."

TI's alive too?!

"Where?!" I look around excitedly.

"Here you are dear." The nurse who was just talking hands me a cup of tea.

"What?!" I croak. "I don't want a drink! I want my little brother!"

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry dear but, you are the only one of your family who survived. And you only just, thanks to Marc Eme."

"Mr. Eme?!" I spit scornfully, she takes my surprise wrong.

"Yes. When the fire trucks arrived, he was coming up from the back carrying you and a little boy. He said he was walking by the house when he saw the flames bursting from it, he said he figured since he's a firebender he just might be able to help. He couldn't find anyone till he saw you and the baby on the edge of the forest. The baby was gone, but you were just hanging on. You've Mr. Eme to thank for bein' here right now."

"Mr. Eme didn't save me! He's the one who started the fire!"

"I know this must be really hard on you, but it's no use goin' around blaming innocent people."

"He's not innocent, he killed my family!"

"Hush now, just have a sip of tea and-"

"NO!" I grab the cup and throw it across the room. Hot tears start falling down my cheeks and I am suddenly aware of a painful burning sensation on my face. I put my hand up to it. It hurts to touch, but I only notice the scarred feeling it has. My lips are half gone. My nose is practically fleshless. I can't feel my eyebrows. I look at the nurse who is standing awkwardly not knowing what to tell me.

"W-what do I look like?"

She hesitates before answering. "Would you like a mirror?"

I sit for a while thinking. Do I really what to see myself? Do I want to see my new reflection? Or would I rather go the rest of my life not knowing what other people see when they look at me? I take a deep breath and nod slowly. She puts one into my hands. I don't allow myself time to think before I am staring back at myself. I was right about my eyebrows. My nose and lips look hideous, and the all-around bumpy scarred messed up look to my face. My face. I can't recognize it. And it's all the fault of a firebender. All the fault of a bender. I remember when I wish that I could bend so that I could teach mean benders a lesson. I suddenly feel different. I realize that I wouldn't be a bender for anything, their just ruthless excuses for human beings. Instead I decide that when I get out of the hospital I am going to find out what a nonbender can do in self-defense. I will teach others like me that we don't have to live in fear. We can be just as powerful as benders. I will lead a revelation to rid the world of them and bring equality to all. I will bring peace.


	3. Alone

I am released from the hospital after about a week. The nurse has been very kind to me and has made me a hood with a face covering attached to it so that only my shadowed eyes show. I am grateful to her but can't help being frustrated that she shrugs off any attempt I make at explaining how the fire really started with "I know you're upset about this but you're just confused, if he was the last thing u saw before u passed out I can understand why u think he was the one who started the fire."

I walk down the street and try to breathe the fresh air through my face covering, but the cloth is damp with my breath and hot. I am tempted to pull it up and take a few untainted gulps but I would rather not have people seeing what lies beneath. I walk on for a couple more minutes then, unable to stand the hot suffocation any longer; I step in between a big sign filled with various advertisements and the wall and pull the mouth part up. After some minutes of drinking in the cool refreshing air I put it back down and sigh, it's warm still. I don't know how long I'll be able to keep it down this time.

I step out from behind the big sign and, for lack of anything better to do, start reading the different things that are on it.

"Ember Island Players come to Republic City! See them perform tonight at 8:00!"

"Edlin Brothers Detective Agency! Open All Hours!"

"Narook's Noodlery! Grand Opening! Everything Half Price! Today Only!"

But one unparticular stands out to me: "How is it done? Learn chi-blocking from Ty-lee! For benders and non! A limited time only!"

Learn chi-blocking?! This sounds like a perfect opportunity! But where am I supposed to come up the money? I don't have any. I don't have anything for that matter. No money, no home, no family, not even a face. I look at my feet, what am I supposed to do? I haven't thought about that yet. Maybe the chi- blocking place needs a janitor, and maybe they have a place for that janitor to stay. It's worth a shot.

I don't have anything else to do or anywhere else to go, so I decide to head over there immediately. I find the location written on it and go to a gym building that's for rent. Well, not currently. I walk inside and go over to the counter.

"Excuse me?" My muffled voice comes through the cloth and alerts the man sitting at the desk.

He peers over the counter at me. "May I help you?"

"Yes," I resist the urge to pull my face covering up. "Can I sign up for the chi-blocking classes?"

"Okay. Name?"

I wonder if I should give my real name, I don't think there's any harm in it. "Solu."

He looks at me. "Wait, you're that kid who lost his face in the house fire, aren't you?"

I'm glad he can't see me redden. "Uh, yes."

"Could I-uh..." He glances around nervously. "...see your face?"

My eyes flash angrily, not that he can see them. "NO!" It wasn't a yell, more of a growl, or a snarl.

"Oh, sorry." He seems to realize how offended I am. "Anyway, about those classes, do you plan on taking them all or just a few?"

"All of them, but-um-there's one little problem, I don't have any money to pay for it."

"You don't expect us to give them to you for free do you?"

"No, I was actually thinking I could do some work here, if that's needed. And, I-I also don't have any place to stay."

"I will, ASK my boss if something can be worked out. Come back in about an hour and I should have an answer for you."

"Thanks." I walk out.


	4. Accepted

An hour later I re-enter the building. I have nothing else to do so I am able to be right on time. The man is not at his desk. I glance around and see an open door. He emerges from it after a moment.

"Uuuh, you're back."

"Yea, you told me to-"

"I know, I know, I just wasn't expecting you to be so one time."

"Oh. What did he say?"

"She actually, Ty-lee, said it would be alright for now, but don't go inviting all your friends to come over, your case is special. Since, you know, you don't, really, have anything..."

"Yea." I put my hand to my face, I feel for a moment like Firelord Zuko, he had a scarred face and no family. Except that his family wasn't dead, and he is a bender. I am not like any bender.

"Don't worry, I won't. What do I do first?"

He starts out giving me a tour of the place and it turns out they already made me up a room. It's getting late so he tells me to get some sleep and I'll start in the morning.


	5. Jasso

"Up time! Rise and shine Solu! I have your breakfast which I shall give to you if you open the door."

I sit up and actually smile, I've always been hungry just after waking, and the aromas of bacon, sugared breakfast rice, and-is that smoked leechy nuts?!-are mouth wateringly irresistible. I hop out of bed and breathe in the beautiful fresh air coming in through the open window. I take the couple steps across the room to the door and start to turn the knob, I find it is locked. Why had I locked it last night? I turn the lock and have opened the door a crack before I suddenly remember. My face. Or, the absence thereof. I slam the door closed again and turn the lock back.

"Is everything alright in there?" Jasso's voice comes through the door. He is the man, or teen, from last night.

"Yes." I call absentmindedly. Where is it?! Where had I put my face-covering?! I rip back the covers from my bed. I throw my pillow into the air. There it is! I now remember yanking it off my head last night before going to sleep, locking the door so no one would come in and see me, and then-not knowing where else to put it-stuffing it under my pillow.

"Are you even hungry, Solu?"

"Yea!" I cover my face and immediately miss the cool fall breeze. "Come in. Er, I'll get it." I open the door and Jasso walks in with a tray upon which sits two plates of breakfast.

"I thought we could break our fasts together while getting to know each other a bit." He smiles.

"Su-" I stop mid-word and gasp. "I'll just eat by myself." I feel mean. But he tried to trick me.

"Why?"

"For the same reason you wanted to eat with me in the first place."

"No! I really do want to get to know you!"

I say nothing.

"Look, we're gonna be seeing a lot of each other, working on the same stuff, being in the same classes, eating together a lot. I think we could be good friends but how can we be if I don't een now what you look like?"

I am not removing my cloth.

"Come one Solu! You know what MY face looks like!"

"You have a face!" I finally respond.

"Sorry." He looks embarrassed. "Here's your food, I'll eat downstairs."

"Actually, we can eat together." Two can play at this game, I figure.

"You sure?"

I nod. He puts the tray down on a small desk and pulls up a chair, I sit on the bed. I can tell he is watching me intently, mostly with side or indirect glances. I pick up a leechy nut, put my hand under my face covering and slide the nut into my mouth. Jasso pretends not to notice or care but his stifled sigh says it all.

Despite the awkward feeling we both have we do still get to know one another a little. He tells me that he joined Ty-lee about three years ago at the age of 14 when his bending father kicked him out after the death of his nonbending mother. I tell him of my late family, and of the Eme's. We share the same opinion about benders so he readily believes my side of the story about the fire.

"You will have to get used to working with benders if you are going to stay here." He says as we are finishing up.

"What?!"

"Nobody else seems to see how dangerous benders are, they think we should all mix and mingle, some work here. They're not bad. Plus, we have someone to practice chi-blocking on."

"You can chi-block nonbenders." I grumble.

Jasso shrugs. "We need to go clean up the gym for the classes starting next week. Come on."

We take our foodless breakfast tray to the kitchen then go to the gym. I see several people in here, two are sweeping, some are arranging mats, one is mopping.

"What do I do?"

"You can either sweep or mop."

I look at the sweepers chatting together gaily, and then at the mopper he is spreading water on the floor using not a mop, but water bending. He's a waterbender. He's a bender.

I scowl. "I'll sweep."

"Okay, brooms are in the utility closet right over there, labeled "Utility Closet." Jasso lets out a bright laugh; he does not appear to notice my sudden change of mood.

The two sweeping are Phlim and Deuj; I was briefly introduced to everyone last night. While working with me they explain that Ty-lee has actually been looking for another employee to fill the space of the one who left last month due to intense quarreling with his fellow worker.

"Intense quarreling." I repeat. "Did it involve firebending?"

"How'd you know?"

I shrug. "Lucky guess."

At lunch everyone eats together, Jasso sits beside me.

"How's your first day of work going?" He asks with his mouth full of smoked sea slug.

"Alright I guess but," I glance around with a sigh. "People keep staring at me."

"You're new; they're not used to you."

"We both know that's not the real reason."

"Relax, they just want to know what you look li...ke. I'm sorry! I didn't mean-"

"It's fine. At least you're not trying to pretend like you're ignoring...it."

He gives me a side half smile.

The subject of my face is difficult for me so I change it. "Are you going to be taking the classes too?"

He narrows his eyes mischievously. "As staff we do more than take the classes, we participate."

"I thought everyone participates."

"That's how we make it look, it's like we do a play in real life."

"What do you mean?" He is not making sense.

"You'll find out when we start rehearsing. Do you know any martial arts of any kind?"

"I did some gymnastics before...you know. Why?"

"You'll find out." He leans back in his chair and we finish the meal in silence. I can't wait until the gym is ready so that we can rehearse. But even more I can't wait to find out what it is we will be rehersing…


	6. The Performance

In the next week which is leading up to opening day I am trained intensely in the art of chi-blocking, and other things. I had been expecting to learn chi-blocking during the classes and just doing cleaning and stuff for my job, but I found out that it is going to be more of a performance than a class, and the staff are the performers.

Opening Day:

The 'class' starts in fifteen minutes and 37 people are here all ready. I now understand the meaning of stage fright.

"Jasso! I don't think I can do this!"

"You'll be fine! Trust me; I felt the same way the first class I was working in. Just act natural. We're like everyone else."

"Everyone else who's not a bender." I mutter under my breath.

"I gotta go now." He walks into the building and leaves me standing outside waiting for my time. Tick. Tick. Tick. Even above the hustle and bustle of the world around me I can hear the sound of the clock on the big building ticking. Tick. Tick. Tick. I look up at it. It's time! I step into the building. Act natural, wave, smile. Well, smiling won't matter, unfortunately. Wait! Don't wave. I'm so nervous I almost forgot my character! As I stand behind three giggling girls who are "...so excited to be learning chi-blocking from Ty-lee!" because "She helped save Firelord Zuko!" The reminder of which brings excited shrieks from the other two, I pull my face covering a little farther over my eyes, and tilt my head downward. When the girls are finally finished and on their way into the gym area with lots of seats I put my money down on the counter without a sound.

The man behind the counter winks at me unnoticeably. "Here is your ticket." He hands it to me. "And your change is-"

I snatch the ticket and stalk off not letting him finish. I get to the door and hand the doorman, who is Deuj, my ticket. He rips off a section and hands it back. I have a ticket that's for all the classes, it has ten sections on it and one gets ripped off each class you attend. I look for my seat and groan. The three girls happened to find seats in the second row right beside mine. I walk over to my seat and pick up a jacket that is sitting there to keep my place and sit down. The girl closest to me, dark haired and skinned, taps my shoulder timidly. "Um, excuse me? I think that jacket was keeping that seat for some on-"

I throw it onto her lap. She gasps. The girl who is the farthest away from me and appears to the youngest snorts with suppressed laughter but the girl in the middle pats her friends shoulder comfortingly.

"It's alright Quin-Lin; some people are just really mean."

"The class will be starting in about ten minutes!" A voice booms around the room.

Great. Ten more minutes of sitting here listening to three crazy girls giggling about how much they love Zuko, how cute Zuko is, how it was SSOOOOOO sweet of Zuko to do this or that.

"Bleh!" I don't realize I'm making the sound until I hear it come out. The girls seem to know I'm annoyed by them; they stare at me for a second then burst out laughing. They are annoying, and they know it, and they like it.

The ten terrible tedious minutes pass agonizingly slowly! I am surprised it is still light outside when the voice comes back on and introduces Ty-lee. There is a loud cheer, from beside me I hear:

"Do you think we'll be able to ask her about Zuko afterwards?"

"Quiet Shadan! We came here to learn chi-blocking!"

"So that we can be cool like Zuko?"

"Quiet Shadan! Do you want everyone to know we have a crush on him?!"

I roll my eyes. But soon have more to think about than giggling girls. First Ty-lee comes out; she leans on a cane and talks in a frail voice. I'm glad no one can see my face because I'm smiling when I shouldn't be. Next she introduces chi and its paths then asks for a volunteer. Several people raise their hands including the three girls, who also feel the need to stand up, Ty-lee calls on a young man sitting in the front row in the chair right in front of me, Jasso. He goes up and stands beside Ty-lee, she calls for a bending volunteer and picks another planted staff member, this one is a firebender. Jasso does share my opinion about benders, but he will work with them if need be, that is where we differ. Okay, I am working with benders, but I never make direct contact with them if I can help it.

The firebender, Spio, shows his ability to bend. Then Ty-lee explains exactly where in Spio's right arm is his chi. Then she tells Jasso to try and chi-block him, with a series of quick jabs Jasso does just that. Spio tries bending again, but he can't. Cheers and "Wow! Cool!"s come from the 'audience'.

Jasso takes the show to the next step. "Excuse me, Sefu Ty-lee? Is it possible to block a nonbenders chi?"

"Oh yes, very possible! In fact it is extremely do-able."

"Could you demonstrate on me?"

"No-no, I'm sure I'm way past my chi-blocking time."

This is my cue. Heart pounding, I go into action trying not to think about how bad I could mess up or how much the audience might dislike me. I jump up and stand on chair, then put my hands on the back of the chair that Jasso had been sitting in, Phlim sits in the chair just beside it and holds it steady so it doesn't tip. I do a front handspring and land on the floor with knees bent, one foot in front of the other and one hand on the ground. I hear "oohs" from the audience as I look up at Ty-lee. She narrows her eyes at me. I summersault across the front and stand up to face her.

A scream comes from yet another plant in the crowd. "That must be the person who's been threatening Sefu Ty-lee because she's teaching chi-blocking!"

More screams break out, I am absolutely sure that three of them belong to the giggling girls. But enough thinking about them, I have to focus.

I am a few feet from Ty-lee, I hurry towards her, fist ready to chi-block, yes I am a chi-blocker even though I have supposedly been threatening her because she is teaching it. I guess I don't want just anyone to know about it.

Just before I get Ty-lee with my first jab she tosses aside her cane which was supporting her 'frail' body and back bends out of the way. I keep advancing, she puts her hands up and they meet mine, we circle each other for a moment. Now comes the hardest move, I had a lot of trouble with this one but finally got it after hours of practice. In one quick move she lowers her hands slightly so that I can bend my knees a little then flips my hands over, I do an ariel so that I am not unbalanced. As soon as I land she flips over me so that she can chi-block my shoulders but I drop back into a double backwards roll, the first one I use to kick her feet as she is in the air and throw her off and the second to get out of the way when she falls. But she doesn't fall, she lands in a handstand. Then she goes into a bridge and stands quickly. As I rise she strikes me with lightning fast hits.

"Ugh!" I drop helpless to the ground.

More cheers erupt from the audience. Deuj comes over and tells Jasso to help him drag me off through a side door.

Once back stage Jasso grins at me.

"How'd you like your first performance Solu? You had one of the coolest parts!"

"I'll never get used to getting chi-blocked." I grumble. "I hope the audience liked it."

"They loved it, trust me."

"I'm so glad my part was at the start of the class."

"So you didn't have as much time to feel nervous?"

"So I didn't have to sit beside the giggling girls for very long."

"I think I know who you're talking about."

"It's a little hard not to." I want to sit up but Ty-lee's chi-block was very effective.

Jasso stands up. "I should get back out there; I am after all, a member of the audience." He leaves.

Deuj gives me a nod. "Nice job."


	7. Wrapping Up

The class is over; Deuj puts hand cuffs on me and leads me past people filing out of the building. I see the giggling girls, the tallest one gasps.

"Hey look! It's the epic guy! I wonder if we can get his autograph!" She starts running towards me.

Not a chance!

"Hannairiuh Elzabina! Get back here! His hands are cuffed behind his back! He can't write like that."

I am taken outside and put in a car. We drive around for a while and then when we stop we are behind the gym. Deuj releases my hands and we go back inside.

I am a little disappointed that I won't be able to perform anymore really since I would be too recognizable with my face covering.

Ty-lee calls everyone together and congratulates us all.

"Great job on your first performance Solu! You did everything just right!"

I smile underneath the cloth, the cloth that hides my real face, my true identity. The reason I am here. Not to perform with friends, but to learn chi-blocking. To learn to fight benders. To learn the path to equality for all. My journey for peace has begun.


	8. My Face Revealed

I continue to work-and travel-with Ty-lee and over the next year my skills in chi-blocking and martial arts grow considerably. At this point I finally agree to train with benders; Jasso tells me again and again that working with benders will better prepare me for later life. I heed his words now; I think the horror of what happened to my family last year is starting to wear off. But only a little. I will never trust a bender.

I am beginning to trust Jasso more and more, I think he knows this. Today, as I am working with Spio he comes in and waits for me to finish the session, and then he calls me over.

"Solu!"

"Huh?" I pull my face covering back and forth to fan my face, something I have become used to doing in the past months.

"I'm really excited to see you working with benders, you've taken a big step, started to get over everything that happened to you twelve months ago."

I will NEVER get over the fact that my family was murdered by a firebender. He burned two 3 year olds to death, and didn't even care. He was a firebender. He was a bender. I shake my head. "I will never get over it."

"I know you feel that way, but you need to move on in life, you need to take a step forward. I think...I think you need to show me your face."

I know he is right. I need to do it. I cannot hide forever, and Jasso is the closest person to me. I need to try and leave the past behind me. I also want to show him that I really trust him. "Okay." I murmur the word. "But not right now." Not right now. It's not the right time. I don't know when the right time will be, but I just can't do it right now.

Jasso smiles. "Later."

I nod and go to mine and Jasso's room. We share now. I still take my covering off to sleep. He promised me he will not look at me until I am ready for him to see me. I trust him. He does not betray that trust, and never will.

Once in the room I lock the door and go to a mirror, I hardly ever do this; it reminds me of too much. But I know I have to see myself again before I will be ready to show Jasso. I pull off the cloth. I look the same as last time. No better or worse. I wonder how Jasso will feel when he sees the unknown, when the shadowed becomes visible, when my face goes from imagination to reality.

Many times throughout the day I am this close to pulling Jasso aside and showing him, but I just can't do it. He waits patiently for me to be ready. At night as I sit on my bed watching falling leaves drift past the window I realize that I will never be ready. I just can't show him. I never will be able to.

"Jasso. I'm not gonna be able to do it. I'm afraid of your reaction. So, as of tonight I will no longer to hold you to your promise."

He looks at me. "You're sure?"

"It's the only way you'll ever see me."

He smiles, something very common with him and a quality I very much enjoy. "Thank you Solu, this really means a lot."

"Just make sure I'm asleep first."

"I promise."


	9. Energybending?

I awake in the morning and can tell that Jasso saw me. He sits staring out the window, he is facing my way. Out of habit I immediately pull my covering over my face.

He smiles at me. "You're strong, Solu. You lost your family and your face in one day. If that had happened to me I wouldn't have been able to pull through."

I shrug. "If I didn't, who would avenge their death?"

"You don't need to avenge anything. I know benders are awful, but you can't go around killing people your mad at."

"If only there was a way to dispose of benders without killing them."

"Well," Jasso looks thoughtful. "Avatar Aang did take Firelord Ozai's bending from him, Yukone's too. And they survived."

"Yea." I've learned the histories; Avatar Aang was given the knowledge to take a person's bending away from a lionturtle. Maybe we could find one to teach us! But when I suggest this to Jasso he laughs.

"Even if we could find a one, I doubt he would really be able to do it. It's most likely just an avatar thing."

"I know. But maybe if we study very closely we can learn to permanently block a person's chi."

"That sounds like either taking their bending away, or killing them."

I know he's right, but perhaps it's not just an avatar thing, perhaps anyone could learn ultimate chi-blocking if he found the right knowledge source. What if we asked Avatar Aang to help? But no, he may be the avatar, but he's also a bender.

Over the next several months Jasso and I pour over and memorize any new information we can find about chi, chi-blocking, and energy bending. I am not sure what we hope to find.

The following years pass much the same for me. My reason to fight gives me an undying energy and fuels me, enabling me to work harder than anyone else. Soon my knowledge and skill almost surpasses that of even Ty-lee. And my youthful advantage doesn't hurt.

Whenever Jasso and I walk together in the cities or towns we are currently working in we look for ways to put our talents to work, we often go into alleyways searching in the shadows for something even darker learking there, waiting to quench it for at least a short while. On one such day we come across two big earth benders terrorizing a younger boy. They appear to be about my age, 17. I smile; this is going to be fun.

"Jasso." I tilt my head in their direction, he nods and we move in. I have almost reached one of the earthbenders from behind when I see the kid try and fight back, I start to admire his heart when I see what he fights back with. Water. He is a waterbender. He is a bender. I stop. Jasso doesn't. He takes out the one guy with several quick jabs, the next one will not be as surprised and therefore not as easy to deal with. He sees his partner collapse and immediately attacks Jasso, the skilled chi-blocker doesn't have trouble avoiding the earth, but as begins to advance the earthbender creates a shield that encompasses his entire body. If he gets in there Jasso won't be able to reach him. I have half a second to think, half a second to make a decision. How far does my commitment to fight benders go? Far enough to fight for benders? I don't know. But it does go far enough to help Jasso. I take a step forward and launch myself into a flying front flip that takes me over the almost closed earth shelter. I stick my hand in and use a new move that I've only practiced a few times. I jab just below his shoulder blade with two fingers. As I land his shield collapses and he lies in the midst of the ruins, unconcise.

"WO-how!" The waterbender laughs. "Where'd you learn to do that?!"

Resisting the urge to chi-block him as well I turn my back and stalk off silently.

"We need to get going." Jasso says apologetically and follows.

"How about thanks!" I grumble as we work our way back into the broad daylight.

"Thanks."

"I meant from the waterbender! We kind of just saved him!"

"He was a little too awed by your skills, Solu! I mean, you are _extremely_ talented."

"I didn't learn chi-blocking to help benders."

"You can't help it sometimes. Besides, not all benders are bad. The avatar, who not only bends but bends all the elements, works to bring peace and balance to benders and non."

"There may be lots of good benders. We could get rid of all the bad benders and leave just good ones, bad bender problem solved right? No. No matter how good all the benders are now their children or children's children or some descendent is going to rebel; the problem is going to start all over again. In order to get rid of bad benders you have to get rid of all benders."

"I guess so. If only there was a way."

"There must be..."


	10. Aman

Jasso is asleep; I stayed up later than usual tonight once again leafing through the well-thumbed pages of 'Energybending. An Impossible Art?' I had flipped to the page that I have read over and over, not wanting to believe it's contents but knowing they are true. It reads:

"Ever since Avatar Aang used energybending to remove firebending from Firelord Ozai, experts in chi have tried and failed to do it. The art has been studied to an extent that it has been deemed impossible for any not of avatar status."

The events of earlier tonight replay through my mind.

'"If only there was a way."

"There must be..."'

I feel lulled by more than tiredness to close my eyes, so I lie down. I have taken off my face covering already and put it under my pillow. I stare at the ceiling, I am so exhausted that it's shapes drift and change. A monkey, a bear, someone firebending the flames spurting forward, and then dying. I wonder faintly what happened, and then my eyes close. A moment passes, they open. I am in a dream, no I'm not. I am confused. I can't see, it's too dark, but I hear voices. I reach for my face covering. I cannot find my bed, I realize I am standing. Where am I? There is sunlight suddenly. No, just light. I can't tell the source. The voices draw nearer, they are calling me, but not by my name.

"Aman! Aman!"

They are calling me peace. Why? How do I know they are calling me?

I hear foot steps splashing nearer. I look down and find that I am standing in shallow water. Some sort of swamp.

"My name is Solu." My voice sounds hollow, it echoes and bounces off the few trees that stand around me.

"No. You are peace, for you will bring peace, Aman."

"Who are you?"

Shapes materialize out of the low mist that is gathered. The first one is a shadow, yet is light. It floats around me, fills me joy and happiness. The voice drifts into my ear, it is like the first rays of sunshine after months of dark, it warms me.

"I am Amae, the spirit of love. Bending has destroyed me in the mortal world. It creates loathing where there should be love. Jealousy where there should be contentment. And rivalry where there should be peace, where there should be aman."

"Am I in the spirit world?" The realization of this makes it difficult for me to register the rest of her speech.

"You are." Another spirit speaks. "We have brought you here to tell you that we have chosen you to usher in an era of balance."

"How? I can only chi-block, which is temporary."

Amae's voice comes again. "We have gathered enough anti-bending spirits to grant you a power that has only ever been used by the avatar. The power to take bending from a person for good."

I gasp. "Is that possible?!" But then a problem occurs to me. "But won't the exbenders just have bending children?"

"This energybending is more powerful than the kind already used, it eliminates that glitch."

"Why have you chosen me?"

"You lost everything because of benders and have worked harder than any other to fight them."

"I am honored." I bow my head, as I lower my face I see my reflection in the water, the reminder of what happened when I lost everything, what happened because of a firebender. What happened because of a bender. "What do I do?"

Many more spirits materialize now, they all breathe out together. The breath blends and glows. It is a powerful force. It engulfs me and brings me to my knees. My head is pulled back and it presses spots on my forehead and neck. My eyes are wide, I stare but everything blurs together in a mixture of light and the limited amount of colors in this place. I try to breath, I hear myself gasping. I feel as though my life is being pulled from me.

They lied. They just want me dead.

The grip loosens, I fall forward, if I collapse into the water I will drown. I won't be able to get up, I am empty. But then as I hit the water I feel alive again! I have something I didn't before. I would get up but the water is deeper than before, it pulls me in. I sit up, I am in my bed now. It was just a dream. No, not just. I have it, that something I felt, the ability. It was real.


	11. Amon

I hear footsteps approaching. The door is flung open. Jasso runs in, he looks terrified. Another man follows him. I whip my face covering onto my head.

Jasso sees me and stares. "You're-are you okay?"

"Are YOU?"

"Well, I-I-I tried to wake you." He sounds out of breath. "Y-you weren't breathing. I thought...I thought..."

I understand what happened. "I was in the spirit world."

"Yea. Well no! I didn't think that I thought you were-"

"No Jasso. I was in the spirit world. I need to talk to you."

Jasso nods and asks the other man to leave. "Sorry for the misunderstanding."

The man exits. Jasso closes the door and I take my face covering back off, I have taken to not wearing it when only Jasso and I are together.

"Did you say you went into the spirit world Solu?"

I nod, and regale the events of last night to him.

"Aman?" He asks when I am at that part.

"Yea, peace."

"Aman isn't a name, you should tweak it a tiny bit."

"How?"

"Uh...Amon?"

I frown. "I guess it sounds better." I say hesitantly, hopefully the spirits won't be angry at me for changing the name they gave me.

"But, how are you going to bring peace?"

"They gave me the power to energybend."

Jasso's eyes widen. "Are you sure?!"

"Yea, I think." I sure sound sure.

"How's it done?"

"Same way Avatar Aang did it I suppose. Kneel down."

He does, though he looks slightly unwilling. I place one hand on his neck and the other on his forehead and pull his head back.

"Like this." I let him go.

"Shouldn't there be some energy going on? Shouldn't I have felt something?"

"Well I wasn't trying to energybend." Even so I feel nervous, what if I can't figure out how to do it right? What if it was just a dream? No. I close my eyes and breathe deeply. I can feel it. I can do it. "I don't want to actually try it on you, it's not pleasant."

"They did it to you?"

"Yes, and then I felt-"

The breakfast bell rings. I realize I am not dressed.

"We'd better get ready."


	12. FriendEndship

All day I am peppered with questions about my night. I tell him continuously to "keep it down! I don't want everyone to hear about it."

Soon before dinner I am mopping the gym floor with Deuj when for the 11th time that hour-yes I've been counting-I hear. "Solu! Comere! I wanna ask you something."

"NOT RIGHT NOW JASSO! I'M TRYING TO MOP THE FLOOR!"

Deuj chuckles. "Is Jasso being irritating?"

"Jasso's just being Jasso, and sometimes he can be _way_ too perky, and _way too_ _INQUISITIVE_!"

Jasso's laugh sounds right behind me. "It's not what you think."

I whirl around and face him. "Really? Let's see, I think you should leave me alone until I finish mopping because I was SUPPOSED to have it down 15 minutes ago but you keep distracting me! Can it wait till later tonight when neither of us is doing anything?!"

"No."

"UGH! What is it?!"

"I've been reading about this guy who fights with these sticks called kali sticks. I think it sounds really cool and unique, so I'm going to learn the art, do you want to learn it with me?"

"I thought you said this couldn't wait!"

"Well, it can't. You see there's a master in this town and we're leaving soon. If you want to stay with me you'll have to quit this job."

My whole world seems to suddenly drop. I realize that least some part of it has when I hear my mop handle clatter to the floor. "You're quitting?" How could he? Jasso is everything to me-besides my goal to cleanse the world of benders-I can't believe he would just walk away.

"Yes." His carefree attitude vanishes. "Is that all right?"

NO! It's not! You have to stay here with me! We're happy here. Why do you want to leave? "Yea, if that's what you want it's fine."

"Are you gonna come too? We could learn together."

I pick up my broom stick and fumble with it. "I don't really have any interest in kali sticks. I really like working here."

"I understand. But you'll see me off tomorrow?"

"Yea." Is all I can say. I turn my back on him and continue mopping. Jasso sighs and hear his steps as he slowly makes his way out of the room. How long has he known he's going to quit?! Couldn't he have given me a little more warning?!

I finish my chores and head up to my room. I turn the door knob and stop, why am I here? Because I come here every evening before dinner to hang out with Jasso. He's my friend, my best friend. We love being around each other. But not right now. I let the knob go, it clicks back into place. Jasso must hear it. As I am turning the door opens.

"Solu. I know this must seem like really short notice to you, but I only decided to quit about an hour ago. I didn't even know there was a master living near here until yesterday."

"You could have told me yesterday."

"I didn't know anything for sure. I didn't want to spread rumors."

"I don't spread rumors! I listen, I hear!"

"Sorry."

"What was I doing this morning? I was confiding in you! Telling you everything! Because I thought you should know! Because I wanted you to know." I am facing him now. "And meanwhile, you were keeping this from me."

"I'm sorry, I have more to nothing to say in my defense."

I start to leave again.

"I don't like arguing with you Solu, at least it won't be happening again."

I run from the room, I do not want to be around him anymore. I won't be. Maybe I should go apologize and make it up to him. No, it was his decision to leave, his choice not to tell me about it. If anyone should apologize it's him!

Dinner is soon. I eat quickly and go up to my room, feigning sleep when Jasso comes in. I want to roll over and say I'm sorry. Say that I would love to come with him after all. But I need to stay here, this is my calling, right? If he thinks he's supposed to go learn to use kali sticks, fine!

Sorry, Solu! Just say it! It would be the easiest thing in the world to just do it. But I can't. I haven't the will power. And when I ask myself why, I can't answer.


	13. True Calling

Jasso and I manage a good-bye to each other before he walks out the door. I feel empty.

The rest of us are going to another city a little later today, I decide to take a walk to pass the time. On it I see a firebender and a nonbender get into fight, the firebender starts to bend. I go into action. I chi-block him and bring him to my knees. I search inside me, I still have it, I could do it. But I can't. Why not? Well, half of me walked out the door this morning, without me! That might explain it!

Why couldn't Jasso have just apologized! Everything would be alright! But it occurs to me, why couldn't it just have been Jasso's family who was murdered? Why couldn't Jasso have been the one to lose his face? Why couldn't Jasso have been the one to visit the spirits and get this power? Because Jasso is Jasso. And I am me. It could have been Jasso, Jasso could have done it, but he didn't. I need to. If I take the step, Jasso will follow. He may be older but I am the leader. The leader of us two. My calling may not be with kali sticks, but it is with Jasso. True, I need to keep working on chi-blocking, but I've learned everything I can from Ty-lee. I need to keep going.

Furthermore, I am supposed to be Amon, I am supposed to be peace, but how can I bring balance to the world when I can't even resolve my own conflicts.

I drop the firebender and sprint back to the gym. I get my things, say good-bye to all my fellow employees, and hurry away to where Jasso is.

I am Amon. I will bring peace. And Jasso will be by my side every step of the way.


	14. Reunited

"Thank you Master Xi-fa!" I pick up my suitcase and wait for him to lead the way to Jasso's room, which he FINALLY agreed to do after I explained again and again that it doesn't matter that he doesn't have any empty room because I WANT to share, and that, no! I'm not here to learn kali stick fighting I just want to board here with one of the students, and, yes! He knows me and will be happy to have me stay with him in his room, and, of course! I plan on paying for my keep!

"Dis vay, yung mon." He has quite an accent and is not very familiar with this language, I get the impression he is not from around here. I follow him up a flight of stairs and into a hallway with several doors leading off of it. "Dis door." He points to the second door on the right. "I geet hem. I teell hem."

"Thanks but I don't want to be announced."

Master Xi-fa shrugs and goes back down. I walk slowly to Jasso's door and turn the knob silently. I open the door a crack and peek in. Jasso sits on a bed staring forlornly at the floor. He seems to miss me as much as I miss him. I open the door enough to step in.

"Jasso, I'm sorry! I'm sorry I got mad at you, I should have been more understanding." I blurt out.

He looks up, his eyes widen, his jaw drops. Then he replaces it with a huge smile. He leaps to his feet and throws his arms around me. I am thrown against the door which in turn is thrown against the wall with a BAM!

"It was my fault Solu, I'm sorry, I'm so glad you came!"

I complete the embrace. "How could I not? You're my best friend."


	15. Job Needed

I need a job, but I don't know where to start looking. I ask Jasso he says I could find a stay-put circus. I, however, do not want to work at a circus. I have been trying to think of something in which I can use my talents, but I guess I don't need to. I could just find a job at a restaurant or someplace like that. When I tell this to Jasso he looks disappointed.

"You have so much talent, it doesn't seem like it should be wasted like that."

"It won't be wasted, not when the time to use it has come."

He agrees and, since his classes aren't starting for a few days, he comes with me to look for work.

The first 'Help wanted' sign we come to says "Help wanted at Tae-Juan's Sushi Cuisine. See Tae-Juan for details."

Jasso gasped. "I know Tae-Juan! He's my cousin's brother's friend. I met him once or twice."

"Your cousin's brother is your cousin."

"You're right. I meant he was the older brother of the cousin I usually hung out with."

"Tae-Juan?"

"He is my older cousin's friend. I think you should try out here."

"I don't like sushi."

"Just be glad it doesn't bend."

"Haha."

"If you do happen to get any employee discounts, though, you could let me use them."

"Gross. Well, let's get this over with."


	16. Of Waterbenders And Sushi

Jasso leads the way inside and through tables of chatting diners to the counter. The man behind it smiles business like.

"What may I get for you today?"

"Can we speak to Tae-Juan, please?"

The man looks slightly worried. "Has something been to your dissatisfaction gentlemen?"

"No, my friend would like to see about the job."

"Oh, ha-ha! Very good. Right this way."

He takes us behind swinging double doors, through the kitchen and into a back room.

"Tae-Juan?" The man knocks on the wall.

Tae-Juan sits hunched over some paper work, he does not look up. "Jrile, I told you I do not want to be disturbed unless-"

"Well someone IS here for the job, sir."

"Is that so?" He looks up now. "Which one? The happy one or the one without a face?" A hint of a smile is on his lips. He obviously means it as a joke but it is very offensive to me.

"I'm not faceless!" I growl.

Jasso seems to understand how I feel.

"He lost his face-er-it was much scarred in a fire several years ago."

"I wear the mask to cover it up. I do still have part of my face. Yes it is very disturbing, and no you can't see it!" I have been walking towards him and am leaning on his desk.

"Oh...I'm terribly sorry; how stupid of me."

Yep. I figure I'm off to a bad enough start already so I think better than to say it.

"So, you would like the job?"

"What is it?" I ask. "Not…making sushi?"

"No, we only have one dishwasher since our other fired after being caught stuffing his face with seaweed and fish from the fridge, although, you might be asked to help out with some other things."

"Oh! If you need a performer you won't find a better person for the job then Solu!"

"Quiet! I'm not performing in front of a bunch of sushi-breathing customers!"

"You really dislike sushi THAT much?"

"It was never my favorite, and ever since Ti ate two much and threw it up on me it makes me sick thinking about it."

"You threw sushi tea on yourself?" Jrile was apparently not paying the best of attention.

"Ti was my little brother." Thinking about that time forces a small laugh out of me, it was extremely disgusting then but to tell the truth, I'd let him do it as much as he wanted if I could only have him back. And the rest of my family. My family that was killed a firebender. Killed by a bender. And I need to wait for the right time to strike, to rid the world of benders for good. And if waiting includes performing in front of sushi breaths then I guess I'll have to deal with that. Just as long as I am not distracted from my purpose, and not separated from Jasso.

"If you want me for the job I'll take it."

"We'll give you a trial week and see how you do."

"Thanks."

I notice that Tae-Juan keeps glancing at Jasso. "Do I know you from somewhere?" He asks finally.

Jasso does his smile. "Perhaps."

"I DO know you! I'd recognize that smile anywhere! But from where?!"

"Guess."

"School? College?"

Jasso shakes his head.

"Have we worked together?"

"Nope."

"Give me a hint."

I sigh, how long is this going to go on?

"I'm related to Maalk."

"Uuh, Maalk, his...brother? No. Oh! You're his cousin! Jasso!"

"Yes!"

"Wow! You're so much older and taller!" Tae-Juan gets up and embraces Jasso.

"Well it has been nine years."

"So how have you been?"

I try not to, but I can't help feeling the slightest bit jealous. But when Jasso starts telling Tae-Juan about me and what a great worker I am I get over it.

Once they finish catching up Tae-Juan tells Jrile to introduce me the other workers. Everyone smiles or nods, and I get the usual amount of stares at my face covering, they are wondering. And I know I would be too, never knowing, always wishing, then finding out and regretting it. Except they won't be finding out. He takes me to the other dishwasher last.

"Reko, this is your new partner possibility, Solu."

I don't bother with a smile but do give a small wave in an attempt to be friendlier, like Jasso.

"Hey. It's about time I had some help." He kind of waves his head since his hands are busy washing sushi smelling dishes. Gross. But the grossness of it escapes my mind when I see how he's washing them. With waterbending. He's a waterbender. He's a bender. I take a step back, right into Jasso. He grabs my arm and pulls me away.

"We're just gonna have a quick talk and then we'll be right back." He calls to Jrile.

I open my mouth to tell him that I won't work side by side with a bender like this but he cuts me off.

"I know what you're going to say, but please reconsider. This is a great place for you to learn different types of work and stuff. And you can think of working with Reko as learning more about benders mind sets."

"I-"

"Please Solu. Amon. In order to defeat benders you're going to have to be among them, to know them."

"Okay. I'll try it for the week."

"Thanks!"

Try it for a week because I promised Jasso I will, then quit or get myself fired


	17. Bad Start

The first day of work I make a point of ignoring Reko. Jasso hears about it from someone, gives me a talk, and the second day I force myself to answer direct questions with shakes, nods, and shrugs. Jasso tells me that if I want to get to know him at all I have to warm up. A lot. So, on day three, I do some talking.

"Morning." I venture after about a quarter of an hour.

"You can talk! And all this time I thought you were dumb." He bursts out laughing at his clever wordplay.

I'm glad my look of hatred is hidden because I'm sure it would only have given him more pleasure. Why do I even bother with benders?

"Have you ever been chi-blocked?" I ask casually as though I hadn't heard him.

"Naw. Why?"

"I was once. Not a good feeling. And," I sigh. "I haven't been able to earthbend since."

"I-I always thought chi-blocks were temporary."

"They _are_ temporary; I've never been a bender. And wouldn't be one for anything."

"I wouldn't NOT be one for anything. You obviously don't know how much power you could have."

"I know how to take it away."

"HA!"

"Want me to demonstrate?"

"No!" He takes a step away from me.

"Then you believe me."

"Of course not! I just don't like taking chances."

"It's just a chi-block." I do not want a bender to be the first person besides Jasso to know what I can really do. "Change your mind?"

"No."

"Then I suggest you watch your mouth around me."

We stare at each other for a long minute. I can tell he wants to say something nasty, something rude. He opens his mouth but the second-hand cook comes over with a stack of dirty dishes and saves him from getting a particularly uncomfortable chi-block.

"Here are some more dishes. Uh, boys, shouldn't you be washing?"

Reko and I each grab a dish and start scrubbing. He shows how useful waterbending can be and catches me glancing at him.

"Bet you wish you could waterbend." He hisses at me.

That does it! I jump behind him and hit his arms with several small fast jabs before he can do anything. He can still move fine but won't be able to bend for an hour or so.

"Bet you wish you could too." I whispered back.

"Whoa! Hey! I didn't mean it! I'm sorry! Take it back, please!"

"I can't."

"Well, i-is it gonna wear off?"

"Wait and see." I am really enjoying this.


	18. Fired

An hour passes, after years of training and working with benders I have learned to watch them and be ready for when they throw something. Like a water slice. I do a quick back walk over to avoid Reko's strike. I run towards him but he sees this and uses the soapy dirty dish water to make an ice shield. Meanwhile, the water he threw at first apparently just hit the cook on the other side of the room.

"HEY!"

I stop advancing and turn around, he is facing our direction.

"Stop messing around with the water! You've got a job to do, so do it!"

I scowl; about to say that it was Reko's fault, but think better of it. As I turn around I see Reko putting the water shield back into the sink. I am walking back to my place when suddenly my feet have no grip. "Whoa!" I scramble keep my balance, I can't, so I grab for the nearest support I can reach; a rolling cart full of clean dishes. That doesn't help much. I fall all the way to the floor; soapy water soaks into knees and coats the hand that isn't holding the cart. As I fall my arm swings forward sending the cart sailing over the water right into Reko.

"Oof!" He turns around and shoves it back at me angrily. I side roll out of the way allowing it to fly all the way across the room right into, guess who, the cook. The force of the impact causes several dishes to fall off it, a few are okay but most of them break. He whirls around once again, and, if I hadn't known it already, his yell would have told me how mad he is. I jump to my feet and start to hurry to the sink, but my shoes are full of soapy water, so I fall over. Again.

"Solu! Get up off the floor! You should be washing dishes like Reko, not destroying things!"

"I'm not! Reko put water on the floor, I slipped."

Oh, well I guess that's what we get for letting a waterbender work here, you're fired Reko! That would have been nice to hear, but noo. "So you threw a cart at _me_?"

"No! I didn't throw it, it slid."

"Oh, excuse me for misunderstanding. What was I thinking? Of course I should have guessed that the cart was just casually walking across the floor when suddenly it slid on the water."

"I..."

Snickers are coming from the other kitchen workers. I use the sink to help myself up, trying to keep my composure.

"I grabbed it for support, but it slid across the floor when I fell and ran into Reko who threw it at me but I dodged it and it hit you." I explain slowly and carefully.

"There'd better not be any more trouble boys, or Tae-Juan will be notified about your behavior."

Reko and I continue to wash dishes, after about a minute he laughs quietly.

"I would have liked to see your face during that episode." He whispers. "Too bad you don't have one."

I am so angry upset and offended by his comment that I hardly notice myself striking his shoulder with my two fingers. He crumples to the ground.

One of the girl kitchen helpers shrieks. "He KILLED him!"

I don't say anything; I just stare at the unconcise Reko. That was stupid of me.

"Solu!?"

Great. Why did Tae-Juan have to pick now to walk in here?!

I turn around. "I can explain!"

"Okay, give me a good reason to kill one of my employees."

"He's unconcise!"

"Jasso gave such a good report! I had expected much more of you."

The mention of Jasso makes me feel ashamed; he's not going to be very happy when he hears what I did. "I was aggravated." I protest weakly.

"If you're going to knock someone out every time you get annoyed I can't have you working here."

"I don't!"

"But you did. You're fired."

Good.

"However, if you would like to wait until Reko wakes up and apologize to him, I will give you another chance."

Apologize to a bender? I should think not. I head for the door, then, figuring I should say something, I call "No."

"If he did something really offensive I can make him apologize too."

I pause half way through the swinging doors. "There's no way I'd accept it."

I walk past the counter where Jrile is on duty. "Hey Solu, takin' lunch early?"

"Leaving."

"I can see-oh. What happened?"

"Ask them."

And with that I am gone from the sushi restaurant. Forever, I hope. I never want to smell another whiff of sushi, wash another sushi plate, see another sushi being made, and most of all, I don't want to work with a bender ever again. It occurs to me that I could have cured Reko of his bending, but I don't think I'm ready to do it yet, I don't know why, but I know. And until I am ready nonbenders have to live in fear, because benders think that because they have a power we don't they're so much better, and have a right to oppress us. Even some nonbenders think benders are the best! I do not get it. My mind drifts off the bending problem and on to Jasso. What will I tell him? Will he be mad? Will he help me find another job or just leave me to do it myself?


	19. Explianation

I can see Master Xi-fan's house now, Jasso should be training so I'll have time to think about what to say before I'll have a chance to tell him. I go up the steps and turn the knob, I give the door a push, and it swings open easily. Funny, I seem to remember having to push it harder. But as I look up I see why it opened so smoothly, I didn't open it. Jasso stands with his hand on the other side of the door.

"AUGH!"

"You okay Solu?"

"I thought you were training!"

"It's lunch time. I was just on my way to have lunch over at the restaurant with you."

"I'm not eating sushi."

"'Kay. So did you come here to have lunch? Or what?"

"I...didn't realize it was lunch time."

"Then you're here why?"

"Um..."

"Solu!" I think he guessed what happened. He takes a deep breath and forces a smile. "How'd your day go?"

I give him a very short and undetailed go-over.

"You knocked him out?"

"He made a rude comment about my face!"

"So you knocked him out?!"

"I...yea."

"That's over doing it just the tiniest bit, Solu. I know you don't like benders, and I don't either, but seriously!"

He has descended the steps by now and we are walking through the streets.

"Sorry. But if I'm not working with benders it's much less chance of it happening."

"You sound like your planning on getting into fights-hey look!" He points to a headline in the window of a shop. "'Whole world mourns death of Avatar Aang.'"

"I'm not mourning."

"Oh come on, have a heart Solu. I know he's a bender but he did mostly keep bad benders in check."

"I suppose. Where to for lunch?"


	20. New Job

I am backed against a wall; flames from the darkness lick my skin, my face. My face is here. A man emerges from the fire; he is engulfed in flames yet not consumed for he is a firebender. He is a bender. He steps towards me, all my knowledge of chi-blocking leaves me, I cannot fight this burning man. His hand reaches for me, I put up my arms to cover my face, I will keep it this time. He grabs my shoulder, shaking me.

"Wake up! Wake uuup!" A cheerful voice calls.

"Wha?"

I open my eyes. Black hair, light blue eyes.

"Did you mean to try and smack me?"

"Huh?" I try to remember where I am.

"You started flailing your arms when I came to wake you."

"Wake me?"

"It's morning."

"Oh." I'm back in the present. "Morning Jasso."

"Dreaming?"

"No, I just woke up. I mean yea I was." I sit up and rub my eyes, why is it so dark? "Uuuh, Jasso, the suns hardly up yet."

"I know, my training starts in two hours, let's see if we can find you some more work."

"You'll help me?"

"Of course."

"I just thought after yesterday's incident you might be too annoyed."

"I was pretty annoyed, but not THAT much."

"Thanks." I begin to dress. "So, what do you do? For work."

"I do some housekeeping around here."

"I'll do housekeeping!" Anything to ensure I'm not with a bender. Or stuck washing sushi dishes.

Master Xi-fa agrees, but he says his house had better be 'dotless' from now on. Jasso and I smile and agree.


	21. Destiny Calls

Jasso continues to train under Master Xi-fa for the next four years. I wait for anything to tell me it's time to start preparing for my revolution. Today as I am walking past the same shop that Jasso had seen the headline announcing Avatar Aang's death I saw a headline of equal if not greater importance. "Avatar Korra discovered in Southpole!" Suddenly I feel an urge, a pull; I see a path being laid down before me. I have to go to Republic City. I have to gather skilled chi-blockers and wait for the right time. I guess the right time will be when the avatar goes to Republic City, which I'm sure she will when she's ready.

I run back to the house and only sort of mean to interrupt Jasso's training session. He is working on a handstand on his kali sticks; the master is not in the room. Jasso comes down neatly when I burst in.

"You alright Solu?"

I nod; my face covering hides my smile. "We need to go to Republic City. But," Thoughts of my childhood and some unsettled business flash though my mind. "I'll need to make a stop along the way."

….


	22. The Same Old Emes

"Is it this one?"

"No."

"But it doesn't have a house."

"It hasn't had a house since I was 5. A family came, bought two plots of land, and demolished one of the houses. I watched it all; it was the coolest thing for a 5 year old."

"I thought you said these are rented houses and land plots."

"MY family rented our house and plot because my parents couldn't afford to buy it."

"I always wanted to live on a farm, my mother had grown up on one, she told me it was nothing special, but I thought it would be nice to have all that yard to run around in."

"You can't run on the crops."

"I meant around and through them."

"Figured."

"I also wanted brothers and sisters. You were really lucky to such a big family Solu."

"Too bad I couldn't keep it." I speed up the pace. I think my farm is only about another mile.

Fifteen minutes later I finally spot what used to be my family's farm. The house is rebuilt and inhabited. Two children are playing in the front yard, a boy, who looks to be about the age that Ti and Rala should be now, stands over a younger girl.

"Paise move! My dolls think you're a scary giant!"

"I was digging here before you came out, you move."

The girl sighs and picks up her three dolls; one falls and is snatched up immediately by Paise. He holds just above her reach.

"Give it back!"

"Get it."

I remember Tolenn doing the same thing to me; only it wasn't with a doll.

"I'm getting Mommy!" She turns towards the house, Paise relents.

"Go fetch." He throws it towards the road.

"Solu, did we come here to watch this family all day or were you planning on doing anything?"

A sudden scream brings our attention back to the girl. She is kneeling on the road, her fingers poised a few inches above her doll, which is in flames. On it is a foot, a foot of a firebender. A foot of a bender. The bender is a young version of Marcus Eme.

"Oh, sorry Megi, did I burn your doll?"

Megi gets up and runs over to her brother.

"What do you want Matthew?" Paise asks coldly.

"Dad said your mom didn't pay Grandpa enough. Dad's comin' to get the rest of the money, and he isn't happy."

Something in the house window catches my eye. A white face, dark scared eyes staring. I follow their gaze in the direction of the Eme's house, Marcus is making his way to the house.

I turn to Jasso. "Make sure Matthew doesn't do anything to Paise and Megi, I need to go do something."

"He's just a kid, what do I-"

I ignore him and run down the road to intercept Marcus.

"Get out of my way!" He snarls. He hasn't changed.

"I will not, Marcus Eme."

"Do I know you?"

"Yes."

"Who are you?"

"Perhaps you'll never know."

"I said who are you!" He lights a flame on his hand and throws it at me. I duck underneath and roll out of the way, standing up behind him. My fists go up his legs, up his back, down his arms and a quick jab on the neck. He won't be firebending for at least an hour.

"What'dya do?!"

"This is a warning, a sample, beware of nightfall. And leave this family alone."

I head back over to Jasso, who is closer to the kids than when I left, all four of them are watching Marcus and I.

"Let's go son! We'll get the money later."

Matthew scowls and gives the other two kids a look, then he hurries to his father.

"Thank you masked person!" Megi comes to me and squeezes my legs. "I was afraid he would hurt Mommy 'cause Daddy's not here to keep her safe."

I kneel down and put my hands on her small shoulders. "You don't have to be afraid anymore Megi, by tomorrow you'll be free of those benders forever."


	23. Avengement

Jasso and I wait in the woods for sunset. It arrives at last.

"I want you to stay here Jasso, I'm going in alone."

"What if something happens? What if you get into trouble?"

"If I scream you can come to my rescue."

"Haha." I rise to my feet, he grabs my arm. "But seriously Solu, what if something DOES happen?"

"Well something had better not, I want to do this alone."

"Very well, Amon. I'll wait for your return."

I tip my head and then make my way behind the small farms until I come to the Eme's property. I have never been into their house but I have been up to the door, those trips were terrifying for me. I never knew if I come back unscathed or not. I knew the smallest slip up might put me in the hospital. But now, it is their turn to fear. I walk to the front of the house and as I ascend the steps I recall a night nine years ago when my home was invaded by an outsider. My life was changed forever that night. And theirs will be too, only this is for the better.

I give the door a hard knock followed by two quick raps. This means business; it was established so that if the occupant of the house was eating dinner or something they knew whether or not answering was necessary. I hear a groan from inside and a chair scooting, footsteps cross the floor.

"This had better be Trui with my money." I think that was Mr. Eme's voice. He opens the door, his eyebrows twist up when he sees me, a look of annoyance with a bit of disgust thrown in appears on his face. "You don't have any business here."

"I do, actually."

"We don't have any houses open. But one family said-"

"I'm not here about a house. Although, I might have been if you hadn't burned mine down nine years ago."

"What?!"

"You seem to not remember saving me from the fire. Well, it HAS been a while."

"You're Se-Solu?!"

"I was, but now I am Amon, for I will bring peace. And I'm starting with you."

"Get out of my house!" He starts to panic and fires at me. It is easy to dodge. I twist his arm around and push him onto his knees.

"Mark is everything alright?" His wife calls, she steps into the room.

"Stay away!" I shout, it suddenly occurs to me that the rest of the family might attack while I am doing my first energybend. I'll have to take the chance. I place one thumb on his neck and the other on his forehead. I pull his head back, his eyes are wide, his irises small. How do I do this? What if I can't?! I force myself to calm down, I take a deep breath and search inside of me. I feel it. I have it. I can do it. I close my eyes and send my own energy into him, but I contact a wall before it gets there. The wall, strong and hard, blocks my way. No! What do I do? It advances a bit. I have to get through it. I remind myself of all the reasons I'm doing this, all the reason's I need to get past.

Jasso. Thrown out of his home by a bender, yet always cheerful and loving. Except when it comes time to be serious he is grim and dangerous.

My family. All the lives that should be being lived right now.

Dad. His last stand that cost him his life.

Mom. Fearless when it came to her family.

Nos. Understanding and kind.

Tolenn. Unafraid to fight for who he loved and what he believed in.

Rala. Easy to love, playful and giggly.

Ti. Ready to grow up and always wanting to be like those he looked up to.

The scarred remains of my face.

Ti's final cry. The last thing I heard from a member of my family.

All the nonbenders I'm already too late for.

With each thought the wall gives a little bit as anger, purpose, and determination course through me. It crumble suddenly and my energy courses through this liar. This murderer. This bender. I have done it. I pull back and watch as he drops to the ground. There is a thump as body hits floor.

"That is for my parents, who should be living peacefully on the farm, bringing up the youngest of their children and helping with their grandkids."

A gasp sounds, the clatter of fork slipping from a hand and falling to the floor.

"You killed him?"

Eme tells her otherwise with a groan.

"What did you do?!" Mrs. Eme charges at me furiously. I am planning on giving her a paralyzing chi-block when she gets close enough, but when she is a few feet away she firebends at me. I am taken by surprise; I don't remember her being a bender. I jump partly out of the way but my upper left arm is hit.

"Augh!"

I smother the flames with my right hand while grabbing her bending arm with my left hand. I twist her around then shove her down. Energybending is easier the second time.

"That is for Nos, who should be happily married with young children for Mom and Dad to spoil." I whisper.

The rest of the family is in here now, Marcus, who looks at me with unveiled hatred, his wife, his unmarried sister, and his two kids, both boys.

How am I supposed to know how bends or not? I know Marcus does, and Matthew, but which kid is Matthew? All this goes through my head in a second, then Marcus attacks. I quickly decide to let them all attack me, I'll chi-block them and try to remember who firebent or not.

He sends a ceiling-to-floor spout of flames, no use rolling, I cartwheel out of the way but my foot hits a low hanging chandelier. I mutter an 'ow' threw gritted teeth. The chandelier sways dangerously, the young Mrs. Eme gasps and hurries over to it. She seem more worried about the chandelier than the potentially dangerous master of chi invading her home. One less person I need to chi-block.

Marcus continues his assault. I continue to dodge him and others. It turns out both his sons are benders, and apparently he's been teaching them a lot. The kids run for me. I glance up to make sure there's not another chandelier and then, aware of the semi-low ceiling, I flip over them. When I land I spin around and do a quick chi-block. Marcus is striking. I drop into a backward roll then do a side roll, coming up behind him. I yank him down and remove his bending.

"That is for Tolenn, who should be in the army like he always wanted."

I proceed to do the same to each of the boys.

"That is for Ti, who should be learning the ways of farming."

Bringing up all these memories is difficult, I'm afraid the reminders of what I lost will unleash all the anguish and grief I have kept mostly bottled up inside me for nine years. But, as the other boy drops to floor I have to do one more.

"And that is for Rala, who should be learning to cook and teaching her nieces how to make paper dolls." I force out the words, trying not to choke on them. My family should be living a normal life, going about their everyday business like everyone else. But they're not, and it's all because of a firebender. All because of a bender.

Maria, Marcus' sister, still stands in the doorway leading to the dining room. I look at her, she shivers and dashes away. Mr. Eme is trying to sit up.

"What happened?"

"You will never fire-"

BONK! My head throbs. Everything turns into giant fuzzy blobs and then clears out a bit. I whirl around, Marcus' wife, I had forgotten about her. She holds a flower vase. I jab each of her shoulders once, this should paralyze her arms. She crumples to the ground; maybe it did more than that. I don't know.

I need to get out of here, my job is done. I turn around, where is the door? I think that discolored blob might be it. I try to stand and concentrate on it but everything else keeps spinning. I go forwards and run into it. I must have miscalculated the distance. I fumble with the knob and yank it open, I don't remember it being closed but I guess it was.

I stumble down the steps, Jasso is here. Now he's far away, now he's closer. I try to tell him to stop, nothing seems to come out but he stays close. I think he is talking. He puts hands on my upper arms, pain shoots through me. Is that distant cry mine? I pull myself weakly from his grasp and turn away. Why is the ground standing up?


	24. Rala

A soft hand strokes my face, I blink open my eyes. Sunlight filters through a window.

"You're awake, big brother."

I focus on the face staring into mine, the smiling face of a pretty twelve year old girl.

"Rala!"

"You recognize me."

"I only have one little sister. Plus you look just like Nos did." I sit up and throw my arms around her. "You're alright. Was I dreaming?"

"You're dreaming now."

"No! Why?"

"Because if it wasn't I wouldn't be smiling right now."

"Why not? You'd be alive!"

"But the Eme's would still practically own us."

"No they wouldn't, I just took their bending."

"No you didn't. You never learned how."

"Yes I did! I was just in their house. I have a burn to prove it." I pull up my long dark blue sleeve to show her, but the burn is gone. "What happened to it?"

"You never got it. You never went to Republic City. You never got a job with Ty-lee. You never learned chi-blocking. You never met Jasso. You were never given the ability to energybend."

"But...I did."

"Not if I'm alive. If the fire never happened, if Mr. Eme never attacked, you would never have left the farm."

"I still could have."

"You never would have had the same determination to get rid of benders."

"I've never liked benders."

"But you always wanted to be one until the fire."

"I..."

"If there was no fire life would not have changed for us, or other nonbenders living under the tyranny of benders. Doomed to forever bow to their wishes because they have a power we can never possess. We had to die so that the whole world can be set free."

"But you were only three!" Several tears run down my cheeks. "Couldn't it have happened some other way?!"

"No, none other Solu. We had to die so that you can set the world free. Don't let us down. Bring peace Amon."


	25. Fulfillment

"You're awake! How's your burn?"

I sit up groggily. "S'not actually there."

"Uuuh, yea it is."

I push myself up on my left arm. "Augh! You're right, it is." I feel it gingerly through the bandage. "I didn't know Mrs. Eme could firebend." I explain.

"Oh."

I stare at my arm, something's missing. "Where's my sleeve?"

"There was a big hole in it, we took it off."

"We?" I realize I am in a bed, in a house. "Where am I? What happened?"

"Well, when you left I followed and waited outside the house. I saw you at the door energybending the first guy, you seemed to be there for a while, then you finally dropped him and went in farther, I was going to watch from the open door but you slammed it shut. There seemed to be a lot of firebending in there, and it couldn't have been too long, but it seemed to be taking forever. So I was about to go in and help you out when you threw open the door and came down the steps. You were swaying like you were half asleep. You got to the bottom and made a groany whining sound. I-"

"I think I was trying to tell you to stop, but I didn't know anything came out."

"Stop what?"

"You were running up and down, up and down. It was making me sick."

"No I wasn't."

He wasn't? "Are you sure?"

"Yea. Anyway, I grabbed you and asked if you were all right, you yelled something like 'ow' so I let go. You started to walk away but passed out. I checked to make sure you were still breathing, just to make sure, then came over here to ask for help."

"Where's here?"

"Your house. I mean what used to be your house. I mean the house that was built where your house used to be."

"Trui's house?"

He raises his eyebrows. "How do you know her name?"

"Heard Eme say it. Did you tell her what I did?"

"Yep, I said you took the Eme's bending away and that you needed medical attention. She welcomed us in because she had gotten a good report about you from Megi, but she didn't believe that you had actually done permanent damage to their bending until Maria came over to thank you."

"She did? Really?"

Jasso nods. "She said that she felt so much better now about what happened nine years ago and so much safer around her family. She said if we need anything she'll be happy to help. Trui did too."

"That's nice. First thing I'll need is a new shirt."

"It's being made."

"Oh?"

"She went 'this is ruined.' *Rip! Rip!* 'I'll make another.'"

I give a half smile. I feel depressed and I can't figure out why.

"You alright Solu? You seem glummer that usual."

"Are you calling me glum?"

"You're not exactly the most cheerful person I've ever met."

It's true; I'm not really the sunshiny sort.

"You know, it's kind of funny that if you were just walking past this house you'd never think it was burned down years ago." Jasso changes the subject suddenly.

"Nothing funny about it!" I now remember Rala, her loving smile, her kind words. I hug my knees to my chest.

"Sorry Solu. I wasn't thinking."

"I had a dream last night that Rala came to me the age she would be now. She told me it all had to happen, my family had to be killed, I had to lose my face. If not then I wouldn't be the same, and wouldn't ever have learned energybending, or chi-blocking for that matter. It all had to happen so that benders could be expelled from the world. I know it has to be this way but then all I wanted was for her to be able to grow up and live!" Tears well up in my eyes. "She was only three!"

"Solu." Jasso puts his arms around me. "I know it must be so hard, but she was right, it had to happen. Think of all the other lives that will be saved because those were lost."

I know he is right, I should, but it hurts so much!

Why me?! Why MY family?! I try to ask Jasso this but the words catch in my throat and the only thing that comes out is sobs.

"I think you're not just upset about the dream. You came back to the place where your family was killed; it must have brought back so many memories. And you just avenged their death, you probably think you should feel happy and accomplished, but you just did what you've been hanging on all these years to do. Now your main drive is gone and you don't feel the need to keep going. But you will. If I know you you'll be over this by tomorrow and ready once again to rid the world of bending. You will fulfill your destiny Amon."

His words help me feel better, knowing the real problem makes it easier to recover.

There is a slight pressure put on the other end of the bed, Jasso speaks as though talking to a small child.

"He's sad because his family died."

"Oh." It's Megi; I feel her hand on me. "I had a cat that died once. I was really sad, but my family helped me feel better. Your family can too."

"I don't have a family." Jasso just told her they all died!

"Yes you do, you have your brother, Jasso."

I look up. "You're right, I do."

"I came to get you because Daddy's back and he wants to meet you. He was doing some business in Republic City, he goes there a lot. The Emes usually don't bother us when he's here because he's really big and strong. But he has to leave a lot.

"He used to be a miner, but the mine collapsed and hurt his back. Mommy was working with the rescue team that saved them and that's when she met him. He couldn't work in the mine anymore so he got another job. Then sometime they moved here and I was born later, I didn't like it here because of Matthew, but then you came and I like it here now."

"That's nice Megi."

She smiles. "Anyway, he's downstairs now and wants to meet you guys."

"Tell him we'll be down in a few minutes."

"Okay." She runs off.

I stick my legs off the bed and stand up, a wave of lightheadedness comes over me, I grab onto the bed post. It passes soon.

"Here" Jasso tosses me my face covering.

I wasn't wearing it?! He notices my look of surprise.

"I told Trui you would want it to be left on but she wanted to look at the bump on your head. She said she had seen the worst there is working on a rescue team, so she took it off anyway. Megi was with her, she was a little startled at first but she got used to it."

I put on the covering then go over to the mirror. After a moment's thought I rip off my remaining sleeve.

"What are you-?!"

"Looks better than one and one."


	26. Noodles

We go down; Trui is waiting with her husband. Megi had said he is big, but in reality he's huge!

"Ruik, this is Jasso, and Solu." She points to us each respectively.

Ruik smiles at me and takes my hand, my left hand, and shakes it heartily. My burn is very much irritated; I grit my teeth and try to yank my arm away. I am not able to.

"I can't thank you enough for what you did son."

"Uh-huh!"

"I can finally feel good about leaving my family for work."

"Yea. Could you-"

"Honey, his burn."

"Oh." Ruik lets me go.

Paise walks into the room. "Table's set Mom."

We go into the dining room, a mouthwatering aroma drifts through the air. Dinner is noodles, and I am starving.

I have gotten used to eating with my face covering on but from the glances I keep getting I would guess it looks a little weird.

About half way through dinner I hear giggles from the two kids and Jasso tells me to look. I slurp another mouthful of noodles and glance up.

"I've been thinking about growing a mustache like this, what do you think?" He has a noodle draped over his lips and hanging down. I find the randomness and weirdness and the thought of Jasso growing a mustache hilarious. I burst out laughing half way through swallowing my noodles. I choke on them and start to cough. Everyone stares at me as I have a coughing laughing fit while unable to breathe. I think I am beginning to turn a shade of blue when Ruik finally gets up and gives me a hart pat on the back. I lift my face covering just before I lose my noodles back into my bowl. I have also now lost my appetite.

"Sorry." Jasso doesn't quite sound it as he sucks up his noodle mustache.

"Ugh." I turn away.

Paise and Megi look disgusted. Trui gets up.

"I'll take care of that. Would you like another bowl?"

"No thanks. I'm gonna go back up stairs." I push back my chair and leave the table hoping I don't seem too rude.

Jasso joins me in our room about ten minutes later.

"I really was sorry Solu, it's just..." He starts laughing. "...what you did down there was so...so funny!"

"Funny? Right. I threw up what everyone was eating into a bowl full of what was being eaten at the dinner table! So funny."

"Hehe, I'm sure they thought it was funny too."

"They were completely grossed out!"

"Uh, yea, sorry. Anyway, what do you think about a mustache? I want your honest opinion."

I frown. "My _honest _opinion? Uum...it looks...different." I say it almost as a question.

"Hmm." Jasso looks at himself in the mirror.

"We need to leave tomorrow for Republic City."

"It's not like they hate you now!"

"I know. But we need to keep going."

He sighs. "Okay."


	27. Ambushed

"Thank you for your hospitality, it was so kind of you to let us stay here, but we have other places we need to be."

"Ruik has to go back next week, you could wait and then go with him."

"That'd be-"

I cut Jasso off. "Thanks but we have to go now." I don't know why but I am really itching to be there.

"Alright. Keep safe!"

"We will." I take Jasso's hand and lead him away.

"Wow Solu, what's the big rush?"

"I don't know."

"Then why-?"

"Just 'cause."

"Uh, okay. You are Amon, you know best. I guess."

It takes us about an hour to reach the city. We hardly have any money so we figure we should look for a job.

"We should start with this street full of shops and stuff."

It does look like a nice staring point, but I feel drawn in another direction. "Probably, but let's go down here."

"Why? There's nothing down there."

"I know. Come on!" I run across the street and in-between two buildings. I keep going through the alleyway until I come to a cross road. Jasso catches up to me, we are both breathing hard.

"What are you doing?!"

"We need to be here." I say slowly while looking around. Shouldn't something be happening? I feel sure came this way for a reason.

"Let's go down here." I lead the way into a longer darker alleyway lined with dumpsters and other things of the sort.

"This looks like a good place to be ambushed and mugged."

"Then keep your guard up and be quiet."

I hear him slowly draw his kali sticks and his footsteps and breathing sounds uncomfortable. I don't feel any more at ease but I can't leave.

Suddenly Jasso gasps.

"What is it?!" I whirl around. He is up to his knees in the ground.

"Earthbenders! We're being ambushed!" He says it in an 'I told you so!' kind of way.

Great, I hate fighting earthbenders! With water and fire you can see the blows coming, and sometimes with earth, but if the you're walking on earth then they could just take the ground out from under your feet and you can't do anything about it. Unless you feel the ground moving, so with earth benders you have to be extra careful, and as you may have guessed, I'm not in an extremely careful mood. But I got us into trouble so I'd better get us out. Why did I come down here anyway?

I feel the ground I'm standing on start to sink and quickly jump to the side.

"Not bad." An earthbender emerges from the shadows. "I think we've found us one with a bit of experience on his hands."

"If you want to see just how experienced my hands are then come closer."

He does, I wait, watching the ground for the slightest disturbance. He is two feet away, I make to run forward, now it comes. The ground right in front of me shoots up; I drop into a backward roll. Now I stand up, grab the top of the wall, which comes about as high as my head, and swing myself over it. I spin in around when I am vertical and land behind him. And next, I chi-block him.

"Augh!" No! I forgot to consider the earthbenders he was talking to!

But Jasso is free now, when I chi-blocked the first guy his 'pothole' must have loosened.

Jasso runs up just as another guy appears. He dodges the big earth chunks and just as he is about to electrocute the earthbender-Jasso has an electro-pouch attached to his sheath that charges his kali sticks-a third throws a slab.

"Jasso look out!" My warning comes too late.

"Ugh." He is thrown against the wall I am stuck in front of, it collapses.

"I know, this all my fault and it was stupid of me to run down here." I hiss. "I just felt pulled."

"By what?!" He is clutching his side. "The overwhelming urge to get us killed?"

But as he speaks I feel my trap let up; and the earthbender who Jasso almost electrified falls to the ground.


	28. Gaudia

I don't waste time finding out what happened to him; I just jump up and grab one of Jasso's sticks. Then I charge for the last guy and hit the button thing on the end of the kali stick to activate the zap. As he drops unconcise I see what had happened, another chi-blocker. He stares at me a second then tilts his covered head and speaks, and I realize he's actually a girl.

"Follow me this way." She says.

"Wait." I put Jasso's kali sticks back in his sheath and help him to his feet. "You alright?"

"Yea, despite the fact you almost got us killed."

"Well we're not killed." I take him over to the girl and we follow, Jasso looks wary but I'm sure we came this way so that we would run into her. She leads us through a couple alleyways and stops; she reaches down and pulls a sewer cover up.

"Eew."

"Don't worry; it's not actually a sewer." She climbs into it and down a ladder. "Come on."

"I'll go first." I say, nothing is else unwanted is going to happen to Jasso because of me. I climb down and give him the all clear. He joins me, closing the top as he does. The girl turns on some lights and pulls off her face covering. She has long dark hair and brown eyes.

"Did Iviye tell you to meet me?"

Jasso and I exchange a 'what is she talking about?!' glance.

"Crao then?"

"No one told us to meet you; we were just walking down there."

"Not a very good place for a walk."

"We kind of figured that out." Jasso gives me a look, which I ignore.

"But, what about your covering? You don't just happen to wear that a lot, do you?"

"Yea, my face is scarred."

"Oh." She looks embarrassed and slightly puzzled. "Well, sorry. I guess you can leave."

Jasso begins to but I'm not going anywhere until I've found out what I want to know.

"Not yet. Who are you? Why do you wear masks? Who are Iviye and Crao? What is this place? Are you recruiting chi-blockers? Where did you learn to chi-block?"

"Why?"

"Because, as you already saw, my friend and I are chi-blockers too and we are interested in meeting others."

"Okay. My name is Gaudia, Iviye and Crao are my brothers. Our father was killed by an earthbender about two years ago our mother lost it and we've been on our own since. Last year we decided to learn chi-blocking, we're not the best there is but we are good enough to take out the sinister bender or two. We found this underground place and kind of live here, Mom never asks where we go. And if we find nonbending chi-blockers who want to join us we let them. Besides my brothers and I there are five so far."

"Hmm. Can we join?"

"Yea, probably."

"Hey, Solu." Jasso pulls me aside. "We hardly know anything about them."

"I know we went down that alleyway so that we would meet her."

"I guess I can't tell you you're wrong."

"Nope." I smile, and almost laugh out loud. If you were trying to tell who was who by our normal personality you would gotten us mixed up. I suppose a chuckle or something must escape because Jasso frowns at me.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing, just that you're usually the perky one and I'm usually grumpy."

"So?"

"So it's kind of switched now."

"Okay?"

"Just-never mind! Forget I ever laughed!"

He shrugs and I sigh, I'm not used to dealing with a bad tempered Jasso.

"So, boys, what's the decision? You wanna join or not?"

"Who's the leader?"

"We don't really have one, we just kind of agree on stuff."

"Well you have one now!" I cringe as Jasso speaks, afraid of what he is going to suggest.

"Oh? Who?"

"Amon."


	29. Iviye

"Who's Amon?"

"Him." He points at me.

"Jasso, maybe they don't want a leader." I hiss.

"I thought you called him Solu. And why?"

"He has two names because he was handpicked by the spirits to rid the world of bending. They named him Amon, because he is going to bring peace."

Wow, thanks for the pressure. I've always known that's what I have to do but him spreading the word like this makes me feel the slightest bit unsure of myself.

"How? You know chi-blocking isn't permanent right? Plus, anyone could do it."

"Not chi-blocking, energybending."

"Energybending?! You mean taking bending away for good?!"

"Yes."

"Has he done it before?"

"Yea, just the other day."

"It worked?!"

"Yes!" Jasso sounds the slightest bit exasperated.

She stares at me for a minute. "I'll ask Iviye to look into this. I need to be someplace. Go down to the left until you come to a door on your right." She climbs out of the sewer place and recloses the top.

Jasso and I proceed to follow her directions.

"I wonder how they got this place. Underground passages, with lights installed! This isn't something you just find lying around!"

"I think this is the door she meant." Jasso pushes it open. Inside there is a boy who looks late teens early twenties. He is practicing various chi-blocking strikes on a dummy.

"Iviye?" Jasso calls.

He stops. "Who are you?"

"Gaudia sent us to find you, well, if you are Iviye."

"That's me. Are you some new recruits?"

"New leader."

"Says who?"

"The spirits."

Here we go again. I feel self-concise as Jasso once again explains why they should follow me. Does he think that I might not like the fact that he's telling this group of chi-blockers we JUST met that I'm supposed to be their leader?

"If he really can energybend I'll vote for him. But that can only be done by the avatar."

"You want a demonstration?"

"I'm not gonna put on a show Jasso!"

"It won't be a show, just a little demonstration." He turns back to Iviye. "Can you get us a bender?"

"HA! Can you get us some air?!" He turns towards a another door at the end of the room. "Kishk!"

"What?"

"Bring that triad waterbender!"

"What for?"

"You'll see!"

"'Kay."

My stomach ties itself into several knots. "Jasso, I don't know about this. What if it's not actually permanent, maybe the Eme's can bend again. Or what if I can't do it anymore!"

"You can do it Amon. I know it. Feel for it, you'll see."

I do and he's right, I do. "But I don't think I should be doing it just for show like this, I don't want all the attention. I feel like I'm back working Ty-lee."

"You didn't like working with her? I thought you loved the performance things."

"I did, but this isn't a performance and shouldn't be treated like one."

"You have to show people sooner or later, plus, you want to be their leader, you're gonna have to get used to a little attention."

I sigh. "I never said I wanted to be their leader, you volunteered me!"

"But you know it's what's meant to be. Why else would we have come down here?"

"You're right, I guess."

Kishk comes back into the room now dragging a struggling man behind him.


	30. Demonstration

"Lemme go! You think you're brave, but if you actually had guts you would untie me and lemme me fight you!"

"Why couldn't you have asked for that little earthbender instead?" Kishk complains.

"You're keeping a little kid prisoner?!" Jasso asks with concern.

"She's a bender!"

"I know, but..." Jasso is second anti-bendingest person I know-next to myself-but he still has a heart.

"Well come on, let's see what you can do."

"Should I wait for your siblings to get here? Am I gonna have to do it again for them later?"

"Perhaps, but we're not waiting. Do you want him untied?"

"Sure."

The waterbender is released and immediately goes after Kishk; I run forward, grab his arm and bring him to his knees. I place one hand on his neck and the other on his forehead, than send my energy into him. His wall is easy to break through, after a minute I pull back and let him fall the floor.

He struggles to sit up, gasping for breath. "What happened?!"

"I took away your bending."

He lets out several peals of laughter.

"Would you like some water?" I grumble.

"How courteous of you to offer, yes I would."

"Kishk."

"Yea?"

"Water."

Kishk sighs and trudges off; he comes back a few minutes later with a glass of water.

"Here"

Jasso snickers.

"For him." Iviye tosses his head in the direction of me and the waterbender.

"What?!"

"Have you not been paying attention?"

"I-uh..."

"Ugh! Give it to the waterbender!"

"He's thirsty? Er, you WANT him to be bending? Or did you chi-block him?"

"We're seeing if..."

"Amon."

"...if Amon really took his bending."

"Wha?! Took his bending?!"

"Where have you been for the past five minutes?!"

"Well, I came in here with the waterbender and saw those two guys, then I untied him and he started to attack me then that guy got 'im and then I-uh-I was...um, I was wondering."

"Wondering?! What were could you possibly have been wondering about that would make you completely ignorant to the outside world?!"

"Uh, it was um, I was-" He blushes. "Just a-about-uh-where Gaudia is."

"My sister?!"

Kishk shuffles his feet awkwardly and looks very embarrassed. "I-I-"

I begin to get impatient. "Can you just give him the water?"

Kishk comes over to us and dumps the cup on the bender.

"Hey!"

"Guess you can't bend."

"All chi-blocks do this."

"Yea? But you might have noticed it wasn't a chi-block, it was energybending."

"Blah, blah."

"I'll see what you think in a couple of days."

"You can take him back Kishk, but don't get too distracted."

Kishk blushes again and leads the water bender back out.

"So?" Jasso looks at Iviye expectantly.

"Well, he can't bend, but I can do that. If he still is unable to in forty-eight hours then we will decide if or if not we'll have you as our leader."

I tip my head, I am feeling better about all this. I remember my dream with Rala, she told me this is my destiny and she told me not to let them down, I won't. I will bring peace.

Iviye's voice breaks into my thoughts. "By the way, who are you?" He is talking to Jasso.

"I'm-"

I cut him off. "This is Jasso. He is...my lieutenant.


	31. ShadowSplay

Loree brings the earthbender out and unties him.

I motion to Frai. "Chi-block him."

She takes a deep breath and steps off the wood floor onto the earth. Now she charges towards the bender. She only makes it a few steps b4 the ground gives way beneath her. She cries out in surprise.

I sigh, not again! "Anticipate Frai! Feel and watch for movement."

The earthbender knows he's being used as a practice bender and he's not happy about it, I know he wants to pull Frai completely under so I have to get to him first. I step onto the rock floor and wait, the ground starts to move down, I flip out of the way and instead of landing normally, since that would be expected, I come down on my hands and forward roll. Once on my feet again I run forward, dodging his other attacks until I reach him, then I do a quick chi-block that will only take him out for a few minutes. Frai is released; she climbs out and looks at me, her face full of awe.

I tilt my head. "Anticipate."

"I try!" She whines. "But it's hard! I'm not a natural at it like you."

"Who ever said I was a natural?"

"Well, you're really good."

"I'm really good, because I've practiced."

Frai is the 53rd equalist, she's the newest trainee. I like to do most of the training at first then I hand them over to another mentor. Frai has been here two weeks, she's athletic and flexible and quick but she has trouble being patient and waiting for the right time.

"Wait until it wears off then try again." I tell her. "And try to avoid at least one of his attacks this time."

Frai nods.

"Amon! Amon!"

I turn my head at the sound of my name; Paryc is running into the training area. "What is it? Where's the rest of your squad? Where's Jasso?!"

"The benders were expecting us; I got away only because I stayed behind."

"No! I knew it was a trap!"

There has been a group of benders hanging around Shadowsplay Alleyway, it's what we call a covered alley. We knew they wanted us to come extract them so we decided to ignore them. But lately they've been causing a lot of trouble for unfortunate and very unwise people who have wondered down there, so we had to act. Jasso took squad 2 to do the job, I knew it was dangerous so I wanted to come along but Jasso said I should stay behind so that me and him where not gone at the same time. I don't care anymore who's gone or not, if anything happens to Jasso, or any of my chi-blockers for that matter, I'm gonna blame myself. And if that happens, I'll very difficult to live with.

"Come with me." I say to Paryc and lead the way to the lounge. Which squad should I take? 5 is all here. And...9, that'll work.

"Squad 5! Come with me now!" I call. "We're going to Shadowsplay. Squad 9, you go with Paryc." I turn to him. "Follow at a distance. I only want you to fight if you absolutely have to, and leave one of your people behind just in case."

He nods.

"LET'S GO!"

The five members of the 5th sqaud pull on their face coverings and hurry after me.

Ugh! I forgot to name a deputy!

"Keep going, I'll catch up!"

I dash back towards the lounge, before I reach it collide with a chi-blocker. We are both thrown to the ground. I jump up.

"Tell Iviye to take over training. Crao's in charge."

"But-"

"NOW!"

"But I'm on squad 9!"

Why?! "Then hurry up!"

He sighs bad temperedly and runs off, I rush back to my squad. It is about a mile to Shadowsplay, I lead the team at a run. Half way there Hirg, the usual leader of the squad, comes up to me.

"Amon, if you keep up this pace no one's going to be ready to fight when we get there."

I reluctantly slow down. We reach it about five minutes later. I signal for everyone to stop, then check inside the alleyway. There are two benders in green, one in blue, one with a red sash and one in noncolored clothes. They have three chi-blockers-MY chi-blockers-and Jasso encased in earth. My lueitenant's kali sticks lie on the ground. I select two chi-blockers to come with me to the other side of the alley and tell the rest to wait for my signal. As we make our way around the building Paryc comes running up to me.

"Paryc! You're not supposed to be here! And where's squad 9?"

"They're waiting back there. I needed to warn you about the benders, don't be deceived by their clothing, that's how they got the others."

"Okay, thanks. Now get back!"

Paryc runs away and I lead squad 5b the rest of the way.

The benders are dragging my equalists in our direction. I hold my hand out to the others and step in front of them. I jam my fingers into the first ones shoulder then motion to 5b while stepping over the unconcise figure.

"HIRG!" I call as Tahn and Elo sweep in on either side of me.

I drop down and turn sideways into a side roll, I bowl into a benders legs, knocking him over. He is chi-blocked heavily by Elo. Next I advance on the waterbender, no, just the man in blue. But Hirg doesn't know that! I see 5a making their way over, I have to warn them.

"Don't trust-" Backbend. Sidestep. "-the colors!" I guess I'm really just stating the obvious since I'm being firebent at by the blue-clothed bender.

On his way over Hirg picks up Jasso's kali sticks and tests them, they have some charge left.

Swoy reaches us first, I grab the firebenders arm and swing him around so that Swoy can chi-block him. Now they have three down and I haven't lost one. Unless you count Jasso and squad 2. Scratch that, Naru was just taken out with a slab of earth.

Who needs me now? I glance around, Swoy is helping Tahn and Elo, never mind just Tahn, corner one earthbender, while Hirg is advancing on and avoiding the other. He is trying to get just close enough to electrociute him. I come up behind the bender and give his shoulder a jab, he turns on me and Hirg gets his chance. Now we all move in on the last man, he realizes that we are more than he can chew and encases himself in an earth shelter.

I go up to it and peek over the top, there is a hole in the middle, just as I thought.

"Hirg." I reach my hand out to him, he hands me a kali stick, I stick it in the hole and electrociute him. His shelter collapses.

I look around, three of us are still standing, eight are not.


	32. Bending Trouble

"Tahn, go get Paryc."

"Yes sir." Tahn runs off and returns a few minutes later with Paryc and squad 9.

"Tie up the benders and see to our people."

I walk over to where Jasso lies, his bonds have fallen away and he is trying to sit up.

"Jasso?"

"Ugh, what happened?"

"Paryc came and got me, the benders are for the most part unconcise. Can you stand?"

He does. "They surprised us, I was going for the waterbender but..."

"He was a firebender."

"Yea. I wasn't expecting that. Is Glish alright?" He asks suddenly. "He was hit in the chest with a huge earth chunk and thrown against the wall. He wouldn't wake up."

"I'll find out, you sit here and rest."

"But-"

"Sit!"

Jasso rolls his eyes and plops onto the ground with a sigh.

I make my way over to Razi, the leader of squad 9, he is organizing the checking up on our chi-blockers.

"Where's Glish?"

"Over there, he doesn't look so good."

"How's everyone else?"

"Okay."

"I suppose it could have been worse."

"Yes."

"We need to back to Headquarters." I speak louder now addressing anyone. "I want everyone who is not injured and or unconcise to drag back a bender." I turn back to Razi. "Is anyone unconcise?"

"Glish."

"I'll get him, whoever isn't dragging a bender help someone else."

I go over to Glish and pick him up; I 'sling' him partly over my shoulder. I usually like to be the one to carry who ever needs to be carried like this because I've been in this situation before and know how uncomfortable it is and how to make it as pleasant as possible. It had happened last year when we were fighting a group of waterbenders, I was preoccupied with fighting one and didn't notice when another shot an ice slice at me, Crao did. He tackled me out of the way just in time, but my head slammed into a wall, knocking me out. When I came to I was being carried by Crao, his shoulder blade was digging into my stomach.

"Ugh, put me down!" I'd complained.

"Whew! Finally, you're awake." Crao slid me to the ground, I had trouble finding my feet but was fine in a few minutes. Then Crao said that we needed motorcycles and vans and stuff for taking our prisoners and wounded back, and so that we could be quicker. I told him that if he came up the money I would happily get us some, as of yet that has not happened, and frankly, I don't think it's going to.

Glish fortunately is one of the lighter chi-blockers, so he's not very difficult to carry. We get back to the entrance to our 'lair' after about half an hour. Jasso climbs down first, a few seconds later he pokes head back out.

"Amon, it's pretty chaotic down here, I think something's going on."

Like what? Is someone missing? Did something go wrong in training? Was it invaded?

"Okay, everyone wait out here." I put Glish on the ground. "I'll go straighten things out and come get you when it's less crazy."

Jasso starts to descend again.

"I meant you too, Jasso."

"But...can I please come with you?!"

"You..." I try to think of a good reason for him not to, he might be hurt from his battle, but the thing is I really want him to be there with me. "Fine."

When I emerge into the dim-compared-to-outside tunnels I see that Jasso's description of 'chaotic' was a major under exaggeration. I didn't even know thirty chi-blockers could make an underground hide out so crazy!

"Jasso get squad 9 down here!"

While my lieutenant follows my orders I grab a passing chi-blocker. "Fyali, what's going on?!"

She turns to me with a panicked look in her eyes. "AUGH! Oh, Amon, it's you!"

"What's going on?!" I repeat desperately.

"Some of us are benders!"


	33. Nightmare

"WHAT?!"

"I don't know how it happened! I don't know who to trust anymore!"

"Well trust ME, who are they?"

She lists off several names most of them are followed by 'I think'.

"Is that all?"

"Yes sir, only seven, that I know of."

"Only?! Ugh! Where's Crao?"

"He's out."

"Out?"

"Unconcise, I hope."

Squad 9 is here now.

"Fyali, come with us. Lead us to where the benders are, we'll take them out one by one."

"Yes sir. The last one I saw was Frai, this way, she's a firebender."

We run into her in a room that leads into the training room, a couple equalists lie on the floor. Frai is heading our way, she looks completely different than the young amatuer chi-blocker I was teaching just a few hours ago. When she sees our group her face lights up.

"More! Just what I was going to find."

I push my way to the front, fear flashes momentarily through her eyes when she sees me, but she replaces it with a forced smirk.

"I guess I get the privilege of taking out your talented leader."

Yea, I don't think so. I nod to my chi-blockers and run for her. She fires at me, I dodge. Jasso and Razi circle around to behind her while the others help me to distract her. It takes us only a minute to chi-block her.

"Find the next one, I'll be right there." When everyone else is gone I stare at Frai and shake my head. "You thought you could take us all by yourself."

She swallows.

"I let you join us, I trusted you, you betrayed that trust. Not that you would care, you're a firebender. You are a bender." I walk around her until her back is towards me, she is trembling. "Attacking my chi-blockers was the worst mistake you have ever made." I remove her bending. As I let her go she gasps for breath and I leave her lying there with an empty look.

The others had gone through the door that leads to the prison hold, I should follow them now but I want to see how it is in the training area. The answer is not very good. While in the training area in the presence of one of our bending prisoners all of us equalists know to very careful and ready for attack at all times, we watch them carefully waiting for the smallest suspicious movement. This, I realize, makes anyone of us vulnerable to an attack from some one we are not expecting an attack from, like one of the trainees. Everyone I left in the training room are somewhere on the floor, except one, but I'm pretty sure I saw him streak past me in one of the hallways. I wonder where Iviye is, I'd sent a message telling him to take over training. I don't see him in here. Did he ever get it?

"Amon!" A quiet gasp comes from beside me, I look down, Altuy is painfully pushing himself up. "Benders! Some of us!"

"I know."

"Don't go."

"I have to, I'm going to get rid of them."

I step out of where I am standing putting myself in full view of the earthbending prisoner.

"Ooo! The great Amon!" He gets a sarcastically terrified look on his face. "I'm so scared!"

I hate it when people to that, but I guess they know that.

I get as close to him as I can while staying on the wood walk surrounding the earth 'ring'. My going is dodgey. Step, step, stop! Step, duck, step, flip, step. Finally I am where I want to be. I run onto the earth zig-zagging every which way so that he can't guess where I am going to be next. But he knows that I am headed for him. This is why he throws up a wall right in front of him.

BAFF! He gets it up quicker than most, it rams into my chin and throws me back. I only have a second to roll out of the way before he sends it flying towards me. I jump to my feet, he strikes with two earth chunks. I roll underneath and as I come out of it I do a front handspring followed by a twisting flip which taks me over his head. I land facing his back and chi-block him. Then I remove his bending.

I rub my chin, I think it will be bruised for a couple weeks.

"Amon! Amon!" Tiopa is running towrds me. "Amon!"

Seriously! Can't a panicking person form any other words? But as she calls my name again I realize she isn't panicking. After performing with Ty-lee for five years I can usually tell if some one is acting or sincere. Tiopa is acting.

"I thought you were going to get hurt, or worse! I'm so glad you're okay." She opens her arms up.

"I'm glad you're okay too." I step into the embrace, but as she closes her arms around me I step out at the last moment. I come behind her and yank her to her knees. The fire in her hands disapates as I energybend her.

I glance around at my injured people, I should see if they're okay. No, I need to go stop the rest of the benders from hurting anyone else. So far I've taken care of three out of seven. Wait, I'm thinking seven benders because that's how many names Fyali gave me. But she didn't mention Tiopa or the earthbending prisoner. Great, that actually means three out of who knows how many.

I go through the list in my head.

Frai. Check.

Lee.

Yern.

Annol.

Pryt.

Dru-til.

Rownae.

Rownae was acting rather suspicious this morning! He asked me if he could scrub the floor in the dummy room, it's a big room with lots of dummys where we train chi-blocking. We usually don't do jobs like that but I didn't see a need to refuse. And what do you use when you scrub the floor? Water.


End file.
